The name PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint: pfefferminz. It's like finally discovering the Da Vinci Code for candy.

Image 1 of 12 - Museum of Pez

The name PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint: pfefferminz. It's like finally discovering the Da Vinci Code for candy.

The name PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint: pfefferminz....It's like finally discovering the Da Vinci Code for candy.

Image 2 of 12|Museum of Pez

Original 1927 PEZ dispensers were designed to resemble cigarette lighters, with the idea that the candies might be an alternative to smoking.

Image 2 of 12 - Museum of Pez

Original 1927 PEZ dispensers were designed to resemble cigarette lighters, with the idea that the candies might be an alternative to smoking.

Original 1927 PEZ dispensers were designed to resemble cigarette...lighters, with the idea that the candies might be an alternative to...smoking.

Image 3 of 12|Museum of Pez

Dispensers with character heads hit the stores in 1955 and soon there would be thousands of variations available.

Image 3 of 12 - Museum of Pez

Dispensers with character heads hit the stores in 1955 and soon there would be thousands of variations available.

Dispensers with character heads hit the stores in 1955 and soon there...would be thousands of variations available.

Image 4 of 12|Museum of Pez

The museum also houses a collection of "banned" toys -- or toys that at some point were deemed unsafe, such as this Battlestar Gallactica ship with real shooting missiles. I had one of these as a kid an somehow survived.

Image 4 of 12 - Museum of Pez

The museum also houses a collection of "banned" toys -- or toys that at some point were deemed unsafe, such as this Battlestar Gallactica ship with real shooting missiles. I had one of these as a kid an somehow survived.

The museum also houses a collection of "banned" toys -- or toys that...at some point were deemed unsafe, such as this Battlestar Gallactica...ship with real shooting missiles. I had one of these as a kid an...somehow survived.

Image 5 of 12|Museum of Pez

Lawn Darts, another banned toy on display. If "You'll shoot your eye out" became the warning song for BB guns, surely "You'll impale your best friend" was the theme of lawn darts.

Image 5 of 12 - Museum of Pez

Lawn Darts, another banned toy on display. If "You'll shoot your eye out" became the warning song for BB guns, surely "You'll impale your best friend" was the theme of lawn darts.

Lawn Darts, another banned toy on display. If "You'll shoot your eye...out" became the warning song for BB guns, surely "You'll impale your...best friend" was the theme of lawn darts.

Image 6 of 12|Museum of Pez

The Gilbert Atomic Energy Lab was only on the market for a year in the early '50s, given its high cost ($500 in today's dollars) and the fact that it included low-levels of radioactive materials. This is probably what Doc Brown was playing with before he invented the Flux Capacitor.

Image 6 of 12 - Museum of Pez

The Gilbert Atomic Energy Lab was only on the market for a year in the early '50s, given its high cost ($500 in today's dollars) and the fact that it included low-levels of radioactive materials. This is probably what Doc Brown was playing with before he invented the Flux Capacitor.

The Gilbert Atomic Energy Lab was only on the market for a year in the...early '50s, given its high cost ($500 in today's dollars) and the fact...that it included low-levels of radioactive materials. This is probably...what Doc Brown was playing with before he invented the Flux Capacitor....

Image 7 of 12|Museum of Pez

The museum also houses small exhibits featuring beloved childhood toys, such as these original Lincoln Log toys.

Image 7 of 12 - Museum of Pez

The museum also houses small exhibits featuring beloved childhood toys, such as these original Lincoln Log toys.

The museum also houses small exhibits featuring beloved childhood...toys, such as these original Lincoln Log toys.

Image 8 of 12|Museum of Pez

The Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads on display might look a little strange, but only because they're awaiting, well, their heads. With the original toys, you have to supply your own potatoes.

Image 8 of 12 - Museum of Pez

The Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads on display might look a little strange, but only because they're awaiting, well, their heads. With the original toys, you have to supply your own potatoes.

The Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads on display might look a little strange,...but only because they're awaiting, well, their heads. With the...original toys, you have to supply your own potatoes.

Image 9 of 12|Museum of Pez

This is an original, first edition pony tail Barbie. Why they did away with her side-look, shifty eyes, I'll never know. She looks like she knows something cool and is about to tell you.

Image 9 of 12 - Museum of Pez

This is an original, first edition pony tail Barbie. Why they did away with her side-look, shifty eyes, I'll never know. She looks like she knows something cool and is about to tell you.

This is an original, first edition pony tail Barbie. Why they did away...with her side-look, shifty eyes, I'll never know. She looks like she...knows something cool and is about to tell you.

Image 10 of 12|Museum of Pez

Just try leaving the PEZ museum without your own dispenser. Also, try leaving in under an hour. Choices, choices ….

Image 10 of 12 - Museum of Pez

Just try leaving the PEZ museum without your own dispenser. Also, try leaving in under an hour. Choices, choices ….

Just try leaving the PEZ museum without your own dispenser. Also, try...leaving in under an hour. Choices, choices ….

First there’s the friendly curator, Gary Doss, who will lead you around the tiny, two-room museum, chatting up the history of the candy. Sort of like Altoids today, PEZ started out as peppermint candy for adults — complete with a simple dispenser meant to resemble a cigarette lighter. It wasn’t until the 1950s that PEZ took on the character-shaped heads we know and love.

Doss leads visitors into a room that is basically a shrine to sugar. It teems with hundreds of PEZ dispensers, with a poster revealing how PEZ got its name, which came from the German word for peppermint: pfefferminz.

“You take the first letter, one of the middle Es and then the Z at the end, and that’s PEZ,” says Doss.

Then there’s the side of the museum that has less to do with candy and more to do with a nostalgic trip down childhood lane — with everything from a first edition Barbie doll to the first Mr. Potato Heads, the kind you had to supply your own potato to play with. Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, those little viewer things that you held up like binoculars to enjoy a slide show. You have to love a place that reminds you of all the awesome times you had as a kid. Each new exhibit leaves you exclaiming, “I had one of those!”

But my favorite part of the hodgepodge house of fun is the ode to banned toys. From lawn darts to Battlestar Galactica spaceships with flying missiles to an atomic science kit complete with low-level radioactive materials, the banned toys are a must see.

My daughter and I went to the museum on a lark. We were looking for a business downtown and saw the sign and thought what any normal human beings would think when confronted with a museum to candy: “Why not?” It only takes ten minutes to see everything — twice — but it’s well worth it. Sort of like an old-school, roadside attraction to childhood joy.

Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for kids — and just try walking out of there without a PEZ dispenser of your own. You can get a vintage E.T. dispenser for $40 or you can grab one of the newer ones for $2.25.

I’m including some favorite toys in this slideshow. I’d love to hear if you had any of these banned toys as well.